Category Archives: Domicile

Domicile

The Annual ‘Turn on the Heat’ Report

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We finally turned on the heat. We came home from a weekend away to find the house at 63 degrees. After much complaining I finally caved and turned it on (nevermind that it was 62 the other day and going one more day would have set a record).

On the upside, 2010 is now tied with 2005 for the longest we’ve ever gone without turning on the heat. Of course in 2005 it was 55 degrees in the house, so we could have lasted longer. But back then there were no children and Abby was pregnant, providing her own built-in heater. I think we only made it this long this year because it’s been so unseasonably warm.

It’s now a comfortable 67 degrees in the house—perfect temperature for a Cosby sweater. Complainers can go put on another shirt or go clean something. That’ll warm you up!

And yes, I’ve now entered my grumpy old man years.

I continually find this information fascinating, so here’s the rundown of when we’ve turned on the heat for the last few years:

Domicile, Society

Embracing the Inner Cheapskate

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I’ve been writing a “statement of need” for an adoption grant application and been trying to explain how poor we are. Not poor enough that we can’t handle the adoption of course, but poor enough that we need help. Which raises the question of what’s “poor enough”? After all, who doesn’t need help, especially these days?

It’s been an interesting exercise. At any rate, I found myself trying to describe our family as financially responsible and frugal and trying to give realistic examples to back it up. I kept wondering what other people do to be cheap. After all, one person’s frugal is another person’s extravagance. One person’s necessity is another person’s luxury.

I want to share a few areas where I think my family is being cheap—not to brag, but to share some thrifty ideas. I hope you’ll share your thrifty ideas in the comments. It’s kind of a touchy subject because everyone has different values (cable TV may seem like an extravagance, but if it’s your only entertainment expense and you never go to the movies or buy DVDs that might be pretty economical), but I hope maybe we can learn something from how others have done it. Saving money is always good, but especially in this economy.

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Domicile

Moving to Detroit

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2010_03_08detroithouseLast week I heard a pair of reports about Detroit on NPR and as usual it hit my soft spot for the Motor City. I spent Saturday morning checking in on Detroit sites (like the incredible parenting/photography/urban living blog Sweet Juniper) and reflecting on the crumbling nature of one of America’s great cities.

You always hear about the ridiculous real estate prices in Detroit (one NPR story mentioned a $500 house) so I decided to see how crazy it the market really is.

It’s crazy.

While I searched I found listing after listing for beautiful homes for well under $100,000. OK, the mansions were under $100,000, the homes for the rest of us were under $50,000. The home pictured above is a four-bedroom, 2-bath, 2,000-square-foot house built in 1931 on the east side (technically the Morningside neighborhood, but that means nothing to me). The price? $19,900.

That’s crazy.

I used the mortgage calculator just for kicks (would they even give you a 30-year mortgage for a $20,000 house?). Your mortgage would be $117 per month.

All of which makes me want to move to Detroit.

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Domicile

Firewood for Charity

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Hauling WoodToday I borrowed a truck and drove up to Wyoming, Minn., to pick up some firewood. Despite my disdain for the helplessness of Craigslist, I went there looking for firewood and came across this ad of two kids selling firewood to raise money to buy a goat through World Vision. Awesome.

They even threw in a dozen fresh eggs from the free range chickens that were wandering the yard. Oddly enough it was a pretty swank neighborhood for free range chickens.

If I have to buy firewood I’d rather help a couple kids help people in need.

Domicile

Turned on the Heat Today

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I broke down today and turned on the heat. Milo’s sniffles and an inside temperature of 63 degrees seemed like a combination for bad parenting. Currently the thermostat is set for 67 (aka the cheapskate setting) and it feels nice and toasty. Nothing like taking the edge off.

Here’s the breakdown of when we turned on the heat the last few years (I don’t know why I find this fascinating, but I do, so roll with it):

Domicile

I Like My Fake Christmas Tree

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Putting up the Christmas TreeWe put up our Christmas tree last week. I’m risking blasphemy here, but I like fake Christmas trees better than real ones.

Growing up we always had real Christmas trees. On the day after Thanksgiving we loaded into the truck, drove out to the Christmas tree farm, rode a wagon out to the field and chopped down a real live Christmas tree (after rejecting plenty for being too fat, too thin or too bare).

It’s a fine tradition, but I’m happy with a fake tree. It’s cheaper, you don’t have to pick up all the needles, and you don’t get stabbed by all those needles when you’re putting the ornaments on. Plus we travel so much at Christmas it doesn’t make any sense.

It also seems like a lot of effort to chop down a real tree every year just to put it up in your living room for a month. Real trees can be recycled, but there’s still a lot of energy and effort that goes into that industry. The fake tree can at least be reused every year—and they’re used so infrequently they could easily last 20 or 30 years.

So call me a Scrooge, but I like my fake Christmas tree.

Maybe someday we’ll have a digital Christmas tree and then it’ll be even easier!

Domicile

Bring on the Heat

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I turned the heat on today. I blame Lexi. She’s borderline sick today and keeping the house at 61 degrees doesn’t seem very wise. Though all things considered, it’s the second latest date we’ve turned on the heat:

It might help that I’m going to be homeless tonight and the thought of a warm house is more than enticing.

Domicile

We Installed a Picket Fence

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The New Picket FenceLast weekend my father-in-law and I installed a picket fence. Well, maybe I should say he installed it and I helped. I don’t exactly know what I’m doing with projects like that, and he definitely does. But I do have the blister to prove I did my share.

The fence looks pretty amazing. Sure beats chicken wire.

It’s really small, basically one 26-foot section and two short sections (5 and 7 feet). Not a lot of fence, but just enough to close in the yard and be a lot of work. What’s a lot of work? Well, there was a lot of concrete buried in the back yard. Then we hit what I can only assume was the foundation to an old garage.

And let’s just say that me and manual labor don’t go well together. I work with my mind, not my hands, and it shows. Working with my hands more might be good for me, but I’m definitely not good at it.

Art, Blogging, Domicile, Family, History

Twitter, Moving, History & Art

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Blogging has definitely slowed lately. I blame Twitter—I’ve been enjoying its strength as a place to make temporary, pithy comments that don’t require much time or thought investment. Maybe that says something about how valuable/worthless my Twitter posts are, though I do try to avoid the Twitter equivalent of the cat blog and at least keep my tweets entertaining. Not sure if I’m accomplishing that, though 191 people don’t seem to be too bored.

Our big Memorial Day weekend was spent helping my brother’s family move. This is a borderline psychotic admission, but I think moving is kind of fun. Yes, it’s incredibly stressful (for those moving). But it’s an interesting opportunity to cram all your stuff into the back of a truck and redistribute it into a new space. It always makes me realize how much crap I own and wonder if I really need all that crap (and hopefully I spent enough time minimizing the crap before the move). All that said crap also makes me realize how unorganized I am, and how stuff I thought I needed so dearly I really don’t need. There’s plenty of stuff I haven’t touched since moving into our current home a little over a year ago, and that helps me let go a little bit.

Continue reading Twitter, Moving, History & Art →

Domicile

Rummagepalooza ’08

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This weekend we had our massive rummage sale.

This weekend it snowed.

That’s the way it goes sometimes (though not usually in April). It rained and snowed and blowed all day Saturday, so we had to set up inside. We had rummage on our porch, our living room, our kitchen and the garage was packed (furniture stacked on furniture).

People actually turned out on Saturday despite the weather. We did pretty well.

On Sunday I pulled out my long johns again for round two and we had some sunshine. We were able to spread out a bit, but the crowds were much thinner. We probably made three times more on Saturday (lesson: don’t do a garage sale on Sunday).

In the end the effort was very successful, but we only moved about a third of our rummage. I think we’ll probably end up doing it another weekend, hopefully a more seasonable weekend.

My favorite part of the weekend was a little girl who bought a mini stapler for a quarter and walked around saying, “Staple, staple, staple,” pretending to staple everything, and a guy who told me a story about a goat that liked to get drunk.

A big thanks to everyone who donated stuff and came out for the sale.